School Lockdown Plan

Lockdowns in a School Setting
Part I
Three things I like about my school district’s lockdown plan are that: 1) it is direct and does not use codes, 2) there are two types of lockdown alerts—one for warning and one for intruders, and 3) there are special lockdown considerations in case the alert occurs between periods, during the lunch hour, during the pre-school hours or during the post-school hours.
Three things that I would suggest be changed about the lockdown plan are: 1) there is no warning as to where the intruder is. A communication strategy should be developed that gives teachers a heads up on where the intruder was last cited. Cameras would help to validate this information. 2) The lockdown plan does not include a process for isolating the dangerous incident or removing students and teachers from the threat on campus. 3) Teachers are told to prepare a list of missing students but there is no way to communicate with other staff to let teachers know if a missing student has been picked up, and this can cause unnecessary stress and strain on faculty and the students’ peers.
The lockdown plan does relate needed material in a short amount of time with as few words as possible. For a dangerous situation on campus happening among students, the alert consists of: “Lockdown warning,” and this is repeated several times over the course of a minute. Immediately, teachers are prompted to enter into lockdown protocol. However, there is no way for teachers to communicate with one another or with the administration other than through the use of cell phones. A special system should be available that allows teachers and staff to communicate directly in case there is a need for further information to be passed along. Sitting in lockdown made while awaiting future instructions can be very stressful especially if students begin frantically calling for a escape or evacuation plan out of fear. The best thing to do in a lockdown situation is to have open lines of communication so that everyone is alert as to what is happening in real time (Zhe & Nickerson, 2007; Bergh, 2009).
The plan also tells what teachers need to know in a short, concise manner, keeping in mind time is critical; however, I would like the plan to address a mode of communication—even something as simple as two-way radios or walkie-talkies would be of use in a situation like this and the lockdown plan does not provide a strategy for teachers to use in terms of how to communicate with one another effectively throughout the lockdown process. The alert information is solid—but once the notification has been given and the initial action steps have been taken there is a remarkable blank that needs to be addressed, especially considering how tense and strenuous the next few moments if not hours can become.
The lockdown plan does not require any modifications to me or my specific workplace station, other than the need to get students away from windows and to keep them all together during the process. My workstation is a typical classroom so nothing is out of the ordinary in this respect.
Should teachers and staff be trained ahead of time on how to conduct themselves, what modes of communication to use as they traverse the tense and frightening moments following a lockdown alert, then my view of the lockdown plan would improve. For now, the plan does not acknowledge that teachers and staff are to fall back upon previous training with regard to these aspects so I am under the impression no training is currently provided. The last I heard was that training was still in development but it seems that this development process has been ongoing for quite some time now. In order for the lockdown plan to be effective, the training also needs to be provided; otherwise, a mess of operations could follow in which panic ensues. The lockdown plan must address proper protocol for teachers following the alert and give guidance on training if any is to be had. As Buerger and Buerger (2010) point out, the first few moments of an intruder alert or a lockdown warning can be the most anxiety-inducing of a person’s life. Teachers need to be equipped in a variety of ways in order to effectively handle the situation.
Part II: My Plan
Step 1: Have a protocol in place for students and ensure that students follow it immediately the lockdown warning is issued. Students must already be familiar with this protocol and should respect the seriousness of the situation. The protocol steps include the following steps:
Step 2: Close all windows and lock all doors. Remove everyone from the line of sight of windows. Keep lights low and close blinds in case intruders are about looking for victims.
Step 3: Line up students along the wall out of sight of the windows. Keep quiet and inform students not to use cell phones during this time.
Step 4: Take attendance. Any students who are out of the room at the time must be noted. They must know in advance that if they are out of the classroom during a lockdown warning they will not be admitted and that they must instead go to the designated lockdown space for students and staff who are not in the safety of a classroom during the warning signal.
Step 5: Communicate by two-way radio or walkie-talkie with all other teachers and staff on the floor, going class by class so that everyone is on the same page.
Step 6: Radio administration if no contact has been made yet to determine where the threat is and what steps need to be followed next.
Step 7: Determine whether an evacuation is necessary.
Step 8: If evacuation is necessary, commence the evacuation in an orderly manner following the pre-established protocol for evacuation during a lockdown. Do not evacuate with the aid of a law enforcement officer.
Step 9: Follow the law enforcement officer to safety and keep students together. Do not disband students until the law enforcement officer has given directions that students may be released to their family.
Step 10: Go to the designated place for administrators and staff to follow up with teachers and staff to address any issues that remain, such as missing students, crisis situations with students, who needs further assistance and what aids and help teachers and staff can do.
Step 11: Give assistance to law enforcement officers and detectives if any is required. Do not leave the grounds in case detectives are on the scene and want information from you. Only leave the premises once law enforcement has cleared it with the administration and the administration has given approval.
Step 12: Stay off social media: do not get involved in any sort of social media reporting of the lockdown. Let police do their work and do not facilitate Internet conspiracy stories that always occur following a crisis situation at a school if violence does break out.
References
Bergh, B. (2009). A qualitative study of school lockdown procedures and teachers' ability
to conduct and implement them at the classroom level. Western Michigan University.
Buerger, M. E., & Buerger, G. E. (2010). Those terrible first few minutes: Revisiting
active-shooter protocols for schools. FBI L. Enforcement Bull., 79, 1.
Zhe, E. J., & Nickerson, A. B. (2007). Effects of an Intruder Crisis Drill on Children's
Knowledge, Anxiety, and Perceptions of School Safety. School Psychology Review, 36(3).